For his skirmish with Prince Aerion, Dunk is sentenced to a Trial of Seven. He must find six knights willing to stand with him in battle against seven of the King’s men or his life will be forfeit. But how will a lowly hedge knight, one who was never even properly knighted by his fallen master, find six men who are strong of sword and will to stand with him against the crown?

This is another solid issue showing Dunk’s failings and strengths, particularly of character. It is his good heart but poor judgment that got him in this predicament in the first place. It is that same heart that he must count on to draw six other good men to his side to fight for his life for the crime of striking a mad prince who, for his part, was prepared to do terrible things to an innocent woman.

Most of this issue is concerned with Dunk’s efforts to find comrades, and the fact that they are willing to fight with him says as much about their character as it does about Dunk’s own. The issue sets up the massive Trial of Seven, which promises to be the showcase of the next, final issue in the miniseries.

Mike S. Miller deserves to be a comic book superstar. He and Mike Crowell do a beautiful job with this issue, with almost no action to speak of. This is, in many instances, a talking heads issue, but the visuals are never dull. The dour look on Dunk’s face as the weight of his situation sinks in… beautiful scenes in the rain… designs for armor that get more and more inventive. Along with Team Kandora doing the color work, each page of this comic really is a work of art.

This has been a heartily satisfying fantasy series from the outset. There’s plenty more stories to tell in George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, from which this is adapted – I hope DB Pro gets to keep doing it.